


The War of Art

by Face_of_Poe



Series: All's Fair in Art and War [1]
Category: Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Thrawn Trilogy - Timothy Zahn
Genre: Art Enthusiast Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo, Art unenthusiast Pellaeon, Gen, Killik Twilight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:47:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28592736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Face_of_Poe/pseuds/Face_of_Poe
Summary: They do not pay Pellaeon enough for this.
Relationships: Gilad Pellaeon & Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo
Series: All's Fair in Art and War [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095143
Comments: 13
Kudos: 21





	The War of Art

**Author's Note:**

> Reposted from hilariously long ago on FFnet, in honor of my abrupt veering back into Zahn & Thrawn enthusiasm over the holidays.

“So this is it.”

He tilted his head sideways, wondering if the masterpiece of it would come through from a different angle; it didn’t.

“This is it. _Killik Twilight_ ,” Thrawn sighed lovingly in a way that Gilad Pellaeon hoped to never again hear from the supreme commander of the Imperial Navy.

“And this cost… how much?”

“Fifteen million credits.” Pellaeon was hard-pressed to keep his jaw in place, but the grand admiral must have read his shock in his eyes because he added, in a soft voice, “Give or take.”

_Give or take?_

Thrawn sighed again. “You can’t put a price on art, Captain.” _Hadn’t he just done that?_ “And this particular piece- it is a lost art, Alderaanian moss painting.”

“Oh. It’s very…”

“Brilliantly conceived?”

“…small.”

A sidelong glance laden with cool exasperation shut his mouth firmly. “Captain, there is no correlation between size and greatness in the realm of art.”

“Yes, Admiral.”

“Let me tell you a little bit about the artist, Ob Khaddor…”

X---X

Forty-five minutes later, a blessing in the form of an in-person message from Commander Seyif interrupted Thrawn’s musings on Ob Khaddor, moss painting in general, and, the relevance of which Pellaeon was still trying to comprehend, fine Alderaanian cuisine. He stepped into the outer office for the brief interlude with relief. “Commander?”

“We have just made the jump to lightspeed, Captain; we arrive at Yaga Minor in sixteen standard hours.”

“Excellent.” He heard footsteps from within the inner office. “Commander,” he hissed urgently, “hurry, you still have time to-”

“Ah! Commander Seyif- do come in. I was just showing Captain Pellaeon my fine acquisition and giving him a little valuable history of the piece.”

Pellaeon patted Seyif sympathetically on the shoulder, and then, with a sigh, trailed the other two back into the inner office. “I _hate_ art…” he muttered under his breath.

“What was that, Captain?”

“I- excuse me, Admiral, I was just saying that, as Commander Seyif is here, there is no senior officer on the bridge. Perhaps I should…” he gestured over his shoulder.

Seyif shot him a look of betrayal. Thrawn looked thoughtful. “Right you are, Captain. Why don’t you go ahead-”

“Yes?” he asked hopefully.

“-and comm Commander Tre’pin and have him report early for duty.”

Pellaeon’s face fell, though he tried to hide it by looking down to fumble for his comlink. “Yes, sir.” He did so, keenly aware of the smugly knowing look in the Admiral’s glowing red eyes the entire time.

“Now,” Thrawn clapped his hands together. “Let’s recap for the Commander, shall we?

“Alderaanian moss painting was pioneered by Ob Khaddor, and it is not painting at all; in fact, the proper terminology is that one _designs_ a moss painting. Because it is an organic art form, it must be kept in a constant state of semi-moisture, and a small humidifying device on the back accomplishes this quite effectively. When Ob Khaddor first perfected the method…” 


End file.
